Bypoll Results 2021: Congress Sweeps Himachal, Boost For Gehlot Govt In Rajasthan
The Congress won all four Himachal seats and the two Rajasthan seats that went to bypolls on October 30.
New Delhi: The Congress swept the Himachal Pradesh byelections Tuesday, winning all three Assembly segments and the Mandi Lok Sabha seat.
In Rajasthan, the ruling Congress won the bypolls to Vallabhnagar and Dhariawad Assembly constituencies.
Byelections were conducted on October 30 for three Lok Sabha seats — one each in Himachal, Madhya Pradesh, and the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli — and 29 Assembly constituencies across the country last week.
The ruling BJP has won big in Assam, winning all five seats, while West Bengal saw the Trinamool Congress emerging victorious on the four seats that went to bypolls. The Northeast seats have gone to NDA candidates.
The Shiv Sena, meanwhile, registered its first win outside Maharashtra after party candidate Kalaben Delkar won the Dadra and Nagar Haveli Lok Sabha seat, defeating BJP’s Mahesh Gamit.
In Karnataka, the BJP won the Sindgi assembly segment but lost the Hangal seat to Congress. The BJP also wrested the Prithvipur assembly seat from the Congress, the Election Commission said. The counting of votes were on in the Khandwa LS seat and other constituencies until the last reports came in.
Himachal Congress Demands CM Thakur’s Resignation On Moral Grounds
In Himachal Pradesh, the opposition Congress retained the Fatehpur and Arki seats and wrested Jubbal-Kotkhai from the BJP, besides winning the Mandi LS seat.
In Mandi, Congress candidate Pratibha Singh, wife of late chief minister Virbhadra Singh, defeated BJP's Brigadier Khushal Chand Thakur, a Kargil war hero. The seat was won by BJP's Ram Swaroop Sharma in the 2019 parliamentary polls, by a massive 4,05,000 votes.
The bypoll was held in Mandi due to Sharma’s death in March.
Virbhadra Singh’s death in July, meanwhile, triggered a bypoll for the Arki seat, which has been retained by the Congress with Sanjay Awasthy beating the BJP's Rattan Singh Pal.
Jubbal-Kotkhai has been won by Rohit Thakur of the Congress, who defeated the BJP’s Neelam Seraik. She may lose her deposit, according to reports.
Sitting BJP MLA Narinder Bragta’s death in June had necessitated the bypoll for this seat.
Congress’ Bhawani Singh Pathania defeated BJP's Baldev Thakur in Fatehpur, a Congress bastion won by his father Sujan Singh Pathania in 2016. The senior Pathania died in January this year.
After the victory on four Himachal seats, the Congress demanded Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur's resignation on moral grounds, even as the BJP said it will introspect the reasons of defeat, according to a PTI report.
"Thakur even failed to retain the BJP's seat in his home district Mandi," Himachal Congress chief Kuldeep Singh Rathore said, calling the bypolls "semifinal".
He expressed confidence that the Congress would win the Assembly elections due next year.
In a tweet, Congress' Himachal Pradesh affairs in-charge Sanjay Dutt said: "This is a vote for change, against the anti-people policies of the BJP's Union and Himachal Pradesh governments. It is a mandate expressing people's solidarity with the pro-people stance of our leaders Soniaji and Rahul Gandhi ji."
CM Thakur, meanwhile, alleged that some BJP workers worked against the party candidates, and said action would be taken against them.
https://twitter.com/jairamthakurbjp/status/1455478361887703041?s=20
"The BJP will introspect the causes which led to its defeat, will formulate a strategy to overcome its shortcomings, and do everything possible to ensure victory in the 2022 assembly elections," he said.
Boost For Gehlot Govt In Rajasthan
In Rajasthan, the BJP lost both the seats that went to bypolls. Its candidates stood third and fourth in Dhariawad and Vallabhnagar, respectively, as the Congress wrested the former and retained the latter seat.
The Congress tally in the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly now stands at 108 MLAs against the BJP’s 71.
In Dhariawad, Congress candidate Nagraj Meena won by a margin of over 18,000 votes, defeating nearest rival Thawarchand, an Independent candidate, according to the Election Commission website.
The seat was vacated after BJP MLA Gautam Meena died.
In Vallabhnagar, Preeti Shaktawat of the Congress defeated Rashtriya Loktantrik Party's Udailal Dangi by over 20,000 votes.
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